


Dessert First

by Brumeier



Series: Bite Sized Fic 2020 [32]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bakery, First Meetings, M/M, Pre-Slash, Prompt Fill, Social Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:48:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24049213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/pseuds/Brumeier
Summary: LJ Comment Fic for Dessert prompt:Any, any, eating dessert first because they are an adult who can do what they wantIn which Rodney tries a new bakery, and winds up with more than just pastry.
Relationships: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
Series: Bite Sized Fic 2020 [32]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1610332
Comments: 32
Kudos: 110
Collections: Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2020





	Dessert First

_Ten A Day Cake_ , the tag said.

Rodney stared at it through the glass. The cake was round and frosted with white icing, and he had no idea what that little tag meant.

“Can I help you?”

He looked up and was momentarily taken aback by the girl behind the counter. She had bright pink streaks in her hair, a ring in her nose, and a large rose tattooed on the side of her neck. She looked young enough to still be in high school.

“What kind of cake is this?” Rodney asked, pointing.

“The Ten a Day? It’s made out of vegetables.”

Rodney wondered if he’d made a mistake, trying out a new bakery. This one might be too cutting edge for him. 

“Would you like to try a sample?” the girl asked.

“Is there lemon in it? I’m allergic to lemon. Deathly allergic.”

“Let me check.”

The girl poked her head through the swinging doors behind the counter. “Shep! Ten a Day have citrus?”

“Negative!” a male voice called back.

The girl pulled out a small paper plate with a sample of the cake on it and handed it to Rodney with a plastic fork. It had three layers, each one a different color. It looked moist.

“First layer is pea,” the guy from the back said, appearing out of nowhere. Rodney knew it was him because his baker’s coat had _Shep_ stitched on it. “Middle layer is purple sweet potato, and the bottom layer is beet. Frosting is spiced tea and butter cream.”

It was certainly a colorful cake, but Rodney barely looked at it because the baker was…wow. Tall, dark, and handsome, with a head full of ridiculous cowlicks that gave him a boyish air.

“Don’t be afraid,” the girl said. “Try it.”

As if Rodney would be afraid of a cake. Well, a citrus-free cake. He was dubious about all those vegetables, but they tasted surprisingly good together. None was overpowering to the other, the whole cake was very light, and the flavors worked well with the frosting. 

“Some of my kids are death on vegetables,” Shep explained. “This is a good way to get them eating healthier.”

Oh, no. He had kids? Well, of course he did. No-one who looked like that was single, that was how the universe worked.

“It’s really good,” Rodney said, with a little less enthusiasm than he’d had a moment ago.

Shep looked at him with a critical eye. “What did you have for breakfast this morning?”

“Coffee.”

“And lunch?”

Rodney gestured at the display case. “Like your sign says. Dessert first. Because I’m and adult and I can.”

Also because he’d been feeling down ever since he heard his ex-fiancée had gotten engaged to someone new, and his usual bakery was closed for renovations. 

“Let me put together a box for you,” Shep said. “If there’s anything you don’t like, you can come back for a full refund. Deal?”

There was no way Rodney could argue with that. He reminded Shep about his deathly citrus allergy, and then watched as the man filled a bakery box with selections from all over the display cases.

“Ring him out, Maggie.” Shep handed the box, now sealed with baker’s twine, to the pink-haired girl. “We hope you’ll come back again soon!”

Shep went back through the doors, presumably to the kitchen, and Rodney pulled out his wallet.

“You’ll like everything he picked out,” Maggie said. “He just knows what pastries go with what person. It’s his superpower.”

“Is he your father?” Rodney asked.

“No. He’s better than a dad. He’s my hero.” Maggie plucked a pamphlet off the stack next the register and handed it to him. 

As it turned out, Dessert First wasn’t just a bakery. Shep, whose actual name was John Sheppard, employed foster kids who were ageing out of the system and didn’t know what they were going to do next. He gave them gainful employment and job skills, and some had gotten so inspired by the act of baking that they’d gone on to culinary school.

“Sounds too good to be true,” Rodney said, signing his receipt.

“That’s what I thought at first, too. But Shep’s the real deal. He doesn’t have a family of his own, so he takes care of all of us.”

Is that what he’d meant by ‘my kids’?

“Enjoy your desserts,” Maggie said. “See you soon!”

Rodney didn’t get more than five steps down the sidewalk before sliding the twine off the box and opening it up, eager to try something. There was a phone number written on the inside of the cardboard lid, and a hastily scrawled note.

_Try the chocolate roll first. And give me a call some time. If you want._

The chocolate roll had espresso in it, and literally made Rodney weak in the knees. A handsome, socially conscious single guy who could bake amazing desserts? 

John’s number was in Rodney’s phone under _Sexy Baker_ before Rodney got back to work.

**Author's Note:**

>  **AN:** I was watching Roy Choi’s show _Broken Bread_ – super thought provoking, you should check it out – and he talked with restaurant owners and bakers who were providing jobs and resources to ex-cons and people looking to get out of gangs and the homeless. So naturally I thought of John doing something similar for foster kids. I just needed a prompt I could pair with the idea and luckily this one came along at just the right time.


End file.
